Armenia Fund Global Fund-Raising Strategy Examined
Telethon Planned for November 2000
NEW YORK- A high level all-day meeting of the Hayastan All Armenia Fund (HAAF) to strategize global fund-raising was held in New York on Tuesday, May 23, at Delma Properties. Attending the meeting were HAAF Executive Director Vahan Ter-Ghevondian from Armenia, and representatives from New York, Los Angeles, Toronto and France. Under discussion were several new approaches to fund-raising based on the decisions of the Board of Trustees meeting in April, and the experiences of different organizations. The main focus was the telethon scheduled this year to be held on Thanksgiving day, November 23. This telethon, in addition to phonathons which have been added, are projected to include a larger geographical audience, including that of the United States, different areas of Europe, the Middle East, the CIS countries and Armenia. �No other nation has conducted this kind of a telethon,� Ter-Ghevondian said during a press conference following the meeting. �This event of national unity will definitely have an impact on the amount of support and contributions,� the executive director predicted, adding that this is due to the new technological possibilities. Through satellite dishes, it will be the first program by Armenian television aired in the CIS. Last year�s three-hour telethon, a spin-off from the 12-hour US telethon, was aired in Armenia live, and took place without fund-raising. �This year, it will be much more effective, since we plan to accept contributions as it was done in Los Angeles.� Funds for Two Major Projects With a planned target of �not less than $5 million (last year�s amount collected in funds and pledges in the US), there are two major projects in line for this year�s contributions. One is the North-South highway in Karabagh, and the second is the construction of educational and apartment buildings in the earthquake zone of Gumri, with schools being the priority. Concerning the North-South highway, the working engineering designs for the three segments of the six-segment road have been completed. By the end of this year, the remaining three segments will be finished. Plans are in place to start construction this year on the 15 kilometer and the 10 kilometer areas simultaneously. The difficult southern 10 kilometer section made up of dirt roads through mountains, must be blasted through. Paying high tribute to the design firms involved in this monumental project, Ter-Ghevondian described them as �completely computerized, and very specialized.� In addition, this program will employ 2,000 people and greatly help the unemployment problem in Armenia. �The impact on the Armenian economy will be great. With the building of the 10 kilometer segment, one can go directly from Hadrut to Stepanakert in one hour,� he pointed out. Currently it takes more than 2 and � hours. In addition, half of the road to Kandzasar will be completed. �This is very important for tourism,� he stressed with obvious enthusiasm. �If the necessary amount of money is collected during the telethon, the North-South highway can be completed in three or four years,� he predicted. �The experience of building the Goris-Stepanakert road which was enormously difficult has helped us a great deal.� That particular road winding through mountains had to be dynamited throughout. �We expect the North-South highway to be as good, if not better than the Goris-Stepanakert road,� which cost $250 a meter. The North-South road is costing $150 for one meter. The executive director emphasized that the financial audition for this project has been conducted by a prestigious international firm, AMYOT International in Paris which in the last two years has not only audited the current two-year period, but carefully gone over the auditing from the time when the Hayastan All Armenia Fund was created in 1992. In addition the firm has recently also audited the gold and jewelry gifts given to the HAAF which has been held in the Central Bank of Armenia. These gifts were donated by the people of Armenia who because they did not have cash, instead gave their valuables, with a fervent desire to be apart of this important project. A careful list was prepared at the time, and now these valuables will be sold on the open market to add to the cash flow. AMYOT international is also conducting physical auditing and working with independent consultants which has �added an additional level of oversight,� Ter-Ghevondian pointed out, adding ,� no single organization has had as many levels of auditing. There has not been one single case of corruption.� He also reported that there has been �very good cooperation with the Social Investment Fund in Armenia, which is financed by the World Bank, with matching funds by the HAAF. This year, the World Bank through the Cultural Heritage Initiative netted the Fund the sum of $371,000. All these levels of oversight and improved procedures that assure transparency were made to calm the fears of those who have become distrustful due to the continuing chaos in Armenia�s political and economic situation. �Because of all these problems, we must work all the more harder in Armenia, and in the Diaspora to bring to fruition these crucial projects,� the Executive Director stated in conclusion. In addition to Vahan Ter-Ghevondian, representatives attending this meeting included from New York, Armenia Fund USA (AFUSA) Chairman Hagop Kouyoumdjian, AFUSA Co-Chairman Kevork Toroyan, AFUSA Board member Hilda Melconian, AFUSA Executive Director Mary Ann Kibarian; from Los Angeles, Armenian Fund International (AFI) Chairman Zaven Khanjian, AFI Board member Hratch Simonian; from Canada, Fund Chairman Migirdic Migirdicyan; from France, Fund Chairman Bedros Terzian; and Fundraising Consultant Jim Littman. (Photo above from L to R: Bedros Terzian,France; Hilda Melconian,AFUSA; Hratch Simonian,AFI; Zaven Khanjian,AFI; Migirdic Migirdicyan,Canada;)
